Hey Granger
by thereitwasagain
Summary: Having Draco Malfoy as Head Boy was not on top of Hermione Granger's list of nightmares. He was a close second though, and gaining. He gives it a month 'til they kill each other. She gives it a week.
1. Jump Off

**AN: Well, well, well... What do we have here? I've finally decided to publish something on here because I've grown quite jealous of the wonderful things my friends have uploaded and I'm awake at one in the morning with nothing to do. So here we are! Though it's not as nice as my friends' stories (not even close!), I present to you, HEY GRANGER! I really couldn't think of a title so. This first chapter's quite short as it was something I just randomly wrote. And so given that, I don't even know how I want this story to progress. But here it is anyway.**

**Disclaimer: Oooops! Almost forgot about this. But we all know J.K. Rowling owns everything HP here and I'm under no illusion whatsoever that I came up with them. I simply write for fun and to promote all things Dramione!**

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><p>Hermione Granger would've jumped off a cliff if she wasn't too worried about leaving her fellow students in the hands of the Head Boy.<p>

The Head Boy… she groaned and did her best not to scream in frustration. It wasn't going to do any good for the Head Girl to scare the first year students. But really. What had she done to deserve this? She'd helped save the world, hadn't she? She shook her head. No. No, no, no. She wasn't going to let him annoy her. She wasn't going to let him win.

She groaned again. Well, she did a good job of acting mature earlier…

"_Hey Granger."_

"_What?" She frowned as she turned to look at a certain pale, blonde, gray-eyed Slytherin boy but immediately felt bad for snapping at him so suddenly. He _was _a bit more civil at the end of the war._

"_Where do you think you're going?" he asked, deciding to ignore her hostile response._

_She tried to sound calmer. "To look for the Head…"-the glint of the metal badge against his robe caught her attention-"…Boy. Oh no. No way."_

_He smirked. "Found him, did you?"_

_She refused to believe it but she grew more panicked as each second passed. "Exactly from whom did you steal that badge, Malfoy?"_

"_From some Hufflepuff guy. I just couldn't accept that someone from that House would be Head Boy."_

"_Really?" She didn't mean to sound so hopeful. "And don't belittle their house! They weren't the ones sent to the dungeons!"_

_He narrowed his eyes at her. "I give it a month before Hogwarts loses its Head Boy and Head Girl."_

"_How bad is this Hufflepuff guy?" She was kidding herself._

_Malfoy chuckled."Really Granger? You've honestly thought I've changed into some honest person? Or that some Hufflepuff guy would be Head Boy over me? You're obviously just in denial. Well, pity."_

_She gulped. "You're giving me a headache. I absolutely cannot work with you!"_

_She screamed and pushed past him. "And for the record, Head Boy, I'm sure Hogwarts will mourn over their Head Girl and forget about you. I give it a week. Merlin knows how close you are to annoying me to death."_

"_I'm glad, Granger. I'm glad."_

After that trip down memory lane, she caught him staring at her. She glared, only to have him smirk and her blood boil.

Hermione Granger almost jumped off the moving train right there and then.

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><p><strong>YAY for random ideas! I think my notes are longer than the actual story but hopefully the writer in me gets inspired and I get to put up another, longer, more interesting chapter. So until then, my friends, good day to you! :)<strong>


	2. Tears of a Blonde and a Brunette

**AN: Hurrah for two chapters in seven hours! Really, I should be training right now but I wanted to get this chapter over and done with just to see how you lot would react (if there's even a 'lot'). I guess I've sort of, kinda figured out how I want this to go. And as I said in my profile, my writing is kinda rusty as I haven't written anything in such a long time, being too occupied with college and having no ideas for a decent story and all. Basically I just typed and typed and typed and voila! Chapter 2! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Oh, right. We all know J.K. Rowling owns the characters and the whole idea of Hogwarts and the Wizarding World and I love her for that.**

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><p>Draco Malfoy hated change. Especially if it meant his life taking a complete turn with his father in Azkaban, his mother on house arrest and him an outcast. Narcissa thought it was best for her son to repeat his seventh year in Hogwarts given the quality of education the preceding year. Not to mention he was plotting for You Know Who at that time. Of course, his mother would rather go with the first reason. He knew she was broken when Lucius Malfoy, once a feared pureblood in the Wizarding World, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban. And she still had nightmares about The Dark Lord, he knew. He still did as well. He was still haunted by the past year's events that he couldn't say the name everyone used to fear and everytime someone else uttered it, he would cringe. At least not a lot of people said the name, most just wanted to forget, he reckoned. <em>He <em>wanted to forget. But things were not going back to how they were. Most students who decided to go back for their last year of school were Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. The few Slytherins wanted nothing to do with him and he couldn't care less about students from Hufflepuff.

He decided to be discreet during his last year, to get the NEWTs over and done with, to avoid trips to Hogsmeade, to keep to himself for the rest of the year. But he just had to be assigned as Head Boy and what's worse, he had to work with a certain bushy-haired, pathetic mudblood. Though he himself noticed how her hair was a lot tamer but still quite unruly, and she had grown a bit taller and her features more mature, he wouldn't admit it, even to himself. It seemed like her looks were the only thing he could hold against her (and even that was proving to be a lot harder): he couldn't call her dumb because she obviously wasn't or say any other negative thing about her because everyone loved the "brains" of the Golden Trio. And she was looking quite well so really, what else could he do as her mortal enemy but to try to annoy her as much as he can? Merlin knows it was the only way he could tolerate a couple of months surrounded by Potter worshippers. It was horrible.

"Malfoy," Granger spat as she entered the common room they were supposed to share as Head Boy and Head Girl.

"Granger."

"I'll be in my room." She sniffed as she crossed over to the left, her trunk floating behind her.

"Suit yourself," he muttered and sprawled onto the couch.

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><p>"Draco."<p>

The mention of his name woke him up. Did the mudblood just call him by his first name?

"What do you want, Gra-Mother?"

"Hello Draco."

"Mother, what are you doing here?"

"I have news, my boy."

His mother looked awful. She was paler than when he last saw her and a lot thinner, too. Her eyes were sinking and bloodshot. Gone was the elegant woman who stood by her husband, emitting the same aura he did. He was locked up and so was the life in her eyes and the grace in her posture. Broken, she was.

"What news? How important could it be that you would risk your life, escaping house arrest and coming here? Mother, they might send you to Azkaban!" He didn't want to say it, it simply fueled his fear but he needed to make her understand how serious the situation was going to get if anyone caught her.

"Oh what does it matter? They can send me to Azkaban! They can execute me too! I don't care! No! Not when he's… gone."

Tears streaked Narcissa Malfoy's face, despair shook her shoulders. "My poor Lucius, my dear husband, gone…"

"Gone? Father? What do you mean?" Draco's blood ran cold. Of course he knew what his mother meant. His father…

"Dead. He's dead, Draco. Your father's dead!"

"H-how?"

"The Kiss. He's dead. My poor Lucius is dead. The dementors… my husband is gone. He's dead. Your father is dead! Dead…"

And his mother repeated the word over and over again, even when he asked-begged-her to stop.

"Lucius is dead. Dead, dead. Draco, your father is dead… The Kiss… Dead…"

Then a hooded figure materialized through the walls and drew closer to Narcissa, who was too blinded by her tears to notice anything.

"Mother!" Draco called out as the dementor gained in on the only person he could call family. But no sound came out. He clutched at his throat. His lips moved but his voice was gone. His mother was in hysterics, the dementor was inches away from her and Draco was powerless. He couldn't speak, he couldn't move…

His eyes flew open, his heart racing, faster than when his father's verdict was read, as he realized it wasn't real. Just a dream. His mother was at the Manor. His father at Azkaban, alive albeit miserable. But at that moment, all that mattered was that they were alive. No dementors, no-

Then he heard it. Sobbing.

Was his mother there after all?

He frantically looked around. No sign of a blonde woman anywhere. Then who was crying? As far as he knew, it was only him and… Could it be?

He pushed himself off the couch, still a bit rattled by the dream. He headed to the Head Girl's side of the room, an oak door separating it from the common room. He leaned in and sure enough, he heard her whimpers through the door although he could tell she was trying her best to keep it down. He didn't understand. Why would Hermione Granger be crying? It wasn't like her parents were in danger like his were. Potter won, Weasley was okay, most of her friends survived… he didn't understand at all.

He thought it was probably best to leave her alone. If she was trying to keep the crying to a minimum then he was sure she didn't want him to hear. And so reluctantly, he turned around and wandered to his own room, worried about his parents and though he wouldn't admit it to himself just yet, worried about her.

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><p><strong>If anyone's even reading this, then a review or two would be much appreciated!<strong>

**Muchos gracias!**

**Much love,**

**J**


	3. Pretense

**AN: I'm really soooo terribly sorry for making you guys wait for weeks and weeks. Do forgive me. And I still write awfully. Sorry about that too. Anyhoo, here's Chapter 3, finally! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything HP.**

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><p>Hermione Granger had the shock of her life the following morning.<p>

"Good morning."

She almost tripped at the sound of his voice.

She looked over at the couch where he sat.

"What?"

He picked at a microscopic dirt on his very neat robe. Sometimes, it annoyed her how tidy he was: his shoes were tidy, his shirt crisp and white, his tie perfect. He even used to keep his hair plastered to his head. Now his hair was almost as messy as Harry's, some falling over his forehead. The bags under his eyes were very visible too. The only problem with this not-so-perfect Malfoy was the urge he triggered in her to step up, push the hair out of his eyes and give him a hug. Beyond those clothes, he was a mess.

"What?" she said again, missing his answer.

An amused grin graced his pale face. "I said-and you better listen this time-that that wasn't the response I was expecting."

"Well a friendly greeting wasn't what I was expecting from you either."

"Yes, well, I thought it was something you needed."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes turning into slits out of suspicion.

"Well, after last night I...," he trailed off upon seeing her eyes turn into wide, surprised orbs again.

"Last night?" Good grief, was he talking about her crying? Did he hear?

From his own shocked expression, she knew he did. But he mustn't have meant for it to slip for he cleared his throat and tried to fake a casual tone. "I mean, you know, when you got back here after whatever you were doing yesterday. Hanging out with those losers, I bet."

Hermione knew he was lying but didn't want to press on the matter of her crying either so she let it go.

"Well, good morning to you, too, then," she said, deciding to ignore his comment on her friends. And noting the dark circles under his eyes, "You seem to need it as well."

And she walked out the portrait hole.

"Good morning, 'Mione."

"Harry. Good morning."

She eyed Ron, who was too busy eating to notice her, and shook her head. "Morning, Ronald."

He grinned at her, mouth stuffed with food.

"Really."

Harry looked amused at their exchange. It was no wonder they stopped dating over the summer. Hermione was patient with Ron but when he began eating "like some savage" as Hermione put it, she couldn't take it anymore. Of course, that wasn't the actual reason they ended things. The two agreed that they weren't cut out for a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. They were better off as friends. Somehow they realized that whatever feelings they had, or they thought they had, were nothing more than infatuation or something like that.

"Slept well?" she heard Harry ask as she speared some eggs.

"Oh yes," she lied. "You?"

"Very well."

"Good."

She immediately bit on a piece of toast to stop herself from telling him right there and then. Whenever she lied to him or Ron, or her parents, or anyone else for that matter, she felt awful. She wanted to tell them and maybe that would ease the heavy feeling but they were all happy, trying to move on with their lives-have moved on. Except for her. And she told herself that she would not drag anyone one of them back into the past.

She was happy. Save for when the nightmares came at night. She thought she was getting over them when they came less often back home. But ever since she came back to Hogwarts, they grew worse. Maybe it was the feel of the surroundings, maybe she felt safer when her Mum and Dad were around, maybe she's just kept it in too long. Maybe. She didn't know what to do. Telling someone wasn't an option. But she's been crying herself back to sleep for the past months and she didn't want it to stay that way forever. She was baffled. As much as she would hate to admit it, she was dumb founded. Hermione Granger was stumped. This was a problem she had no solution to. It was a puzzle she couldn't figure out.

She fell out of her trance as a hand waved in front of her face.

"Hermione!" Harry called.

"W-what?"

Ron was standing up and dusting the crumbs off his robe. "Well that got your attention."

"Did you have to shout into my ear?"

"Well I did call you a couple of times now."

"Oh."

"'Mione. Is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?"

"YES!" she shouted in frustration.

The Great Hall fell silent.

Realizing that everyone's eyes were on her, Hermione turned red as a tomato and cleared her throat. "I'm fine, Harry. Now let's go, we'll be late for class."

And with that, she grabbed her things and walked off, pulling Harry along. As they trudged past the tables, she felt a prickling sensation behind her neck and risked a look back. Malfoy was watching her. She shook her head and walked faster.

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><p>"Hermione."<p>

She looked up to see Harry and Ron peering at her with concern.

"Harry. Ronald."

She turned back to the book she was reading, hoping that they'd leave her to the comforts of the library and her fortress of books.

"We have to talk."

"Can't it wait? I'm trying to study for NEWTs."

"This early?" Ron said. "Wow, Hermione, you've reached a new level of in-"

"Shhhh," Hermione interjected. "We obviously can't talk here or else Madam Pince will have a fit!"

"_Muffliato_," Harry muttered, waving his wand at the direction of the librarian.

"I'm studying," she repeated.

"It's the first day of class, Hermione!" Ron said.

"I'm already a year behind!"

"We're all a year behind!"

"Well you never did care about your studies, Ronald!"

"Now hang on-"

"Stop it, both of you!" Harry shouted.

The pair quieted down.

"Good," he said and sat down the bench across Hermione. "Now, tell us what the matter is. We know you too well to fall for any excuse you'll be trying to make."

Hermione's eyes darted from one boy to the other with a helpless look. "I'm fine."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem fine."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well there was this morning's outburst at the Great Hall," he recalled.

Ron spoke up. "And you've been awfully quiet the whole day. And you look really tired."

"I am tired, Ron. But only because I've been caught up with studying. But I'm okay."

They didn't seem convinced.

She sighed. "Very well, I promise to take things a bit slower. Will you stop badgering me if I do?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a look. "Okay."

"Brilliant." She threw them a smile she hoped was convincing enough.

Ron stood up and stretched. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat."

His friends rolled their eyes and they all burst into laughter.

"You boys go ahead." Her statement caused them to shoot her a look. "What? I'm just going to put these books back. Save me a seat!"

Her enthusiasm must have relieved them because they both nodded and walked out, knowing that she never appreciated them trying to help her with returning the books to the shelves. Oddly enough, she enjoyed doing it.

As soon as the pair left, her smile faltered and she slumped in her seat.

"Merlin's beard."

She groaned and gently banged her head against the book she had been reading.

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><p><strong>AN: Yay! So yeah, sorry again! And I'm not as clueless as I used to be so hopefully, everything will go according to plan. Review! :)<strong>

**PS This chapter still isn't as long as I wanted it to be but I did try my best. Sorry for any typos!**


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